Household recycling rates in England have breached the 35% mark for the first time, according to new figures.
In the year to June 2008, recycling rates increased to 35.5%, up from 34.5% in the 12 months to March 2008. Total municipal waste dropped by just over 0.2M to 28.3Mt, and household waste fell from 25.3M to 25.2Mt.
The DEFRA figures for the first quarter of 2008/09 also reveal that less waste was sent to landfill, decreasing from 15.5 to 15.1Mt.
Responding to the figures, Cllr Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association’s environment board, said: ‘It is pleasing to see our recycling rates exceed 35% for the first time, but the fact remains that other countries on the Continent are still recycling up to twice as much.
‘Councils and council taxpayers are still facing fines of up to £3bn if we do not dramatically reduce the amount of waste thrown into landfill, and so it is vital we look at alternatives to the status quo.’
Scotland’s annual recycling rate increased to 32.9% in the year to September 2008 – and to 36.3% for the second quarter of 2008/09. Bill Proctor, spokesman for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, said: ‘These positive results should encourage us all to…meet the ambitious targets set out for Scotland.’
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